Rangers uphold British traditions

Your report on the disturbances which marred the Rangers v St Petersburg Uefa Cup final (Moscow's plan to avert Manchester-style chaos, May 16) did not exaggerate the violence, mainly from Rangers supporters, which was in evidence - not only after but also before the fixture kicked off. Those of us who work in Manchester city centre were compelled all day long to run the gauntlet of drunken Glaswegians braying their obnoxious sectarian chants and vomiting all over the streets. I was delayed from reaching home for several hours.

All this highlights the need to control that most recent of football nuisances - the travelling fan without a ticket. There were almost twice as many supporters outside the stadium as inside. Most crowded into the city's pubs and bars to watch the match, something which they could have done as easily in their native cities. The big screen in Piccadilly Gardens was a fiasco - again, if the fans wanted a big-match atmosphere, surely the city centres of Glasgow and St Petersburg would have been more appropriate.Walter CairnsManchester

The spokesman for Manchester police who felt the need "to stress that the vast majority of supporters have behaved impeccably" must have viewed the entire event by CCTV. Those of us who live or work here were confronted by streets flowing with urine and piled with rubbish, racist chanting, harassment and verbal abuse. If this is the Britishness to which Rangers fans are so attached then many Mancunians are today as eager as Wendy Alexander to see an early vote on ending the union. James JonesManchester